Label Type
Mystery MondayLabel
Happy Summer Break Boilermakers and congratulations to the Class of 2023!
Purdue University Galleries is introducing Mystery Mondays! Each Monday we will post a detail or full image of an artwork in our collection. Guess the artist or title to get the chance to help choose a future Mystery Monday object.
In honor of Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, here is our first object. Guess this famous Edo era artist and be sure to come back later to see if you are correct.
Follow up:
Title: Sheet #85 from Ogura Magai Hyakunin Isshu 小倉擬百人一首 (One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets) and scene from the kabuki play Oshidori 鴛鴦
Artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川 国芳 (1798-1861), Japanese
Date: 1845-1847, Edo period
Medium: Ink on paper
Technique: Woodblock print
Accession number: 1983.01
The image is by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, recognized as one of the last masters of the ukiyo-e woodblock print tradition. The scene depicts the tense end of the play Oshidori 鴛鴦. In the story, a spiteful sumo wrestler Matano Goro Kagehisa (holding the lantern) had killed a male mandarin duck swimming in a fit of jealously. Ducks, symbolic of martial fidelity, mated for life and if one dies, the other will as well. That night, the spirit of the female duck, appearing as a woman wearing a costume with winged sleeves and a feathered collar, has come to avenge her mate's death.
In concert with the image, the waka (poem) is by the 12th century poet Shun'e Hoshi 俊恵法師 who can be seen seated in the upper register wearing monk’s robes. The poem speaks of deep longing during a sleepless night.
夜もすがら
もの思ふころは
明けやらで
閨のひまさへ
つれなかりけり
Through an unsleeping night
Longingly I pass the hours,
While the day's dawn lags.
And now the bedroom shutters
Are keeping light and life from me.
This piece came into the Purdue University collection in 1983. It is a beautiful example of Kuniyoshi’s style with its vibrant colors, complex compositions, and dynamic action. To see the complete album, scroll through the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s digitized copy (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/36683).